page_title: Centre for Alternative Technology
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Centre for Alternative Technology / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Centre for Alternative Technology. Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9AZ, UK
context_page_description: The Centre for Alternative Technology is an eco-centre in Powys, mid-Wales, dedicated to demonstrating and teaching sustainable development. CAT, despite its name, no longer concentrates its efforts exclusively on alternative technology, but provides information on all aspects of sustainable living. It is open to visitors, offers postgraduate degrees as well as shorter residential and one day courses; and publishes information on renewable energy, sustainable architecture, organic farming, gardening, and sustainable living. CAT also runs education programmes for schools and sells environmentally friendly items through its on site shop, restaurant and mail order department.
context_section_description: CAT was founded by businessman-turned-environmentalist Gerard Morgan-Grenville, and opened in 1973 in the disused Llwyngwern slate quarry near Machynlleth (once served by the narrow-gauge Corris Railway), where it occupies a seven-acre (28,000 m²) site. The organisation was originally known as the "British National Centre for the development of Alternative Technology". Inspiration for the early CAT pioneers included the then-recent books Small Is Beautiful, A Blueprint for Survival, and The Limits to Growth as well as an aim to explore alternative ways of living.
  CAT was previously aligned to the Urban Centre for Appropriate Technology (UCAT), which was based in Bristol and has since evolved into the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
caption: The Centre's forecourt and ticket office
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